ELT365 · Day 169 — Grading a text: simplify without distorting

Idea — When adapting an authentic text, cut difficult words and complex grammar — but preserve the writer’s logic, the examples, and the argument structure. Distorting meaning defeats the purpose.

Example — Authentic: ‘The proposal, though lauded by analysts, met fierce resistance.’ Graded: ‘Analysts liked the plan. Others opposed it strongly.’ The argument survives; the complexity falls away.

Try — Take a paragraph from an authentic article above your class level. Rewrite it for B1. Check: is the main argument still intact? Did you remove an example? Put it back.

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